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Wednesday, January 23, 2013

April Farmer Fred Award Runners Up

When horses pulled farm equipment, wagons, and sleds, the families grew to love their horses. Iris remembers listening to her parents decide if a much loved horse, who had died that day, should be skinned out. The decision was yes, and her father did the job. The skin was sent to Montgomery Ward where it was made into a warm robe to cover traveling passengers on cold winter rides in the bobsled. First the horse and then its robe served her family well.

It is not the same as in the days of horses, but tractors develop a form of personality known best to those that drive them. We take good care of them and they last a long time, but unbeknownst to me at the time, this was the last day for our old favorite, the CaseIH 9170.

I have been told that I didn't respond quickly enough to the school lunch issues or the pink slime crisis in the beef industry. In today's world, speed is of the utmost importance. But these issues are ongoing and continue to plague agriculture. Pink Slime is food with a disgusting name, but safe and nourishing none the less. School lunches are no longer under the control of local school boards and cooks. The reprieve on federal requirements is temporary. Hunter and many other students are still going hungry in school. It is especially devastating to children who do not go home to kitchens full of food on the weekends. Those students come back to school on Monday hungrier than ever.